Williams looks at church separation

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has ordered an independent blueprint for a possible separation of the Church of England from the state, according to a London newspaper.

Dr Williams, 52, has reportedly asked the Constitution Unit at London University to draw up detailed plans explaining how the church could be partly or fully separated from the state.

Britain's reigning monarch would no longer be supreme head of the Church of England under full disestablishment. The church has been linked to the state since Henry VIII made himself supreme head of the Church of England in 1534. Disestablishment would allow a British monarch to convert to Catholicism or marry a Catholic.

Heir to the throne Prince Charles would also be able to marry his long-term companion and fellow divorcee, Camilla Parker-Bowles, in church.

Dr Williams, a controversial theologian who supports the idea of women bishops and accepts gay priests, has become");document.write("

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the spiritual leader of 70 million Anglicans worldwide. The former Archbishop of Wales replaced George Carey, who retired in October.

A copy of the Constitution Unit's draft proposals, seen by The Times newspaper but not by Dr Williams, says that disestablishment would have "huge symbolic and real practical benefits, only gilded vested interests would lose".

A spokesman for Dr Williams said that the new archbishop was "looking for more information generally about the whole nature of disestablishment and the shape of a national church".

He added that Dr Williams "takes an evolutionary view on the basis that this relationship has constantly evolved".

Dr Williams was officially confirmed as archbishop on Monday in a ceremony which has its roots in the 12th and 13th centuries and was enshrined in the Appointment of Bishops Act in 1534.

It is the second part of a two-stage process. The College of Canons at Canterbury Cathedral privately elected Dr Williams last month. Monday's ceremony publicly affirmed the election to the wider church.

Dr Williams is now legally the Archbishop, but he will not be enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral until February.